Europe must act prudently on final nuclear deal: Larijani

Iran's Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says European countries must act prudently to help Tehran and the six major world powers reach a final agreement on the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program, PressTV reported.

"Europe should play a positive and constructive role in reaching a final [nuclear] agreement and should clear up misunderstandings by adopting independent and wise positions," Larijani said in a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Tehran on Sunday.

He added a religious decree issued by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the prohibition of nuclear weapons is strong support for Iran in nuclear talks with the six countries.

In the fatwa (religious decree), Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons "a grave sin" from every logical, religious and theoretical standpoint.

The Austrian foreign minister, for his part, said his country, as an active member of the European Union, hopes the nuclear talks would lead to a final agreement, the removal of sanctions against Tehran and improvement of Iran's ties with Western countries in all fields.

Iran and the six world powers - the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - sealed an interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24, 2013, to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic's energy program. The deal came into force on January 20.

Under the Geneva deal, Iran agreed to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period in exchange for some sanctions relief.

The two sides are scheduled to resume expert-level talks in New York on May 5-9.